For decades, the FBI has ruffled feathers as it sought to balance tough law enforcement with sensitivity toward civil liberties. But today's bureau operates in a climate vastly altered from the days when agents in J. Edgar Hoover's virtually unchecked empire could burglarize homes and keep files on political opponents. With stepped-up scrutiny from Congress and the press, the modern FBI under Louis Freeh has demonstrated new willingnessto admit its mistakes. Currently, the bureau is under fire for, among other things, alleged misconduct in its famous forensics lab and possible political favoritism toward the White House.The FBI's defenders, nonetheless, say the agency's record-high budgets are needed more than everto fight high-tech criminals in globalized drug-running, terrorism, espionage and organized crime.